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Peter Schreyer's "tiger face" grille design is seen on this 2012 Kia Optima.

Kia promotes design chief Schreyer: Becomes first non-Korean with president title

December 27, 2012

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Kia Motors Corp. has promoted design chief Peter Schreyer to president. He's the first non-Korean to attain the position at Kia.

German-born Schreyer, hired from Volkswagen AG in 2006, was promoted to president from executive vice president, Kia said in a statement Friday.

The appointment makes Frankfurt-based Schreyer, who remains chief design officer, one of three presidents at the company.

"The promotion shows Kia's key focus areas shifting from production and cost efficiency, which were traditionally considered more important, to design and research and development," said Shin Chung Kwan, an analyst at KB Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul. "It also symbolizes Kia's urge to advance as a global company--showing a foreigner could make it to one of the top positions."

Kia and Hyundai Motor Co. are both headed by Chairman Chung Mong Koo. His son Chung Eui Sun hired Schreyer when the younger Chung was co-CEO of Kia six years ago.

Kia and Hyundai Motor are stepping up efforts to move upscale and away from their reputations as builders of cheap, utilitarian cars. Schreyer, the designer of the Audi TT coupe, was hired to overhaul Kia's lineup and allow the Seoul-based automaker to charge more for its models.

The promotion is also clear sign of Kia and Hyundai's ambition to outdo German rivals Volkswagen and BMW in design--a key part of a strategy that has helped the South Korean duo ramp up sales and gain market share even during the global economic downturn in 2009.

"We should not have let him go," Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech told Automotive News in an interview in November.

Kia design chief Peter Schreyer dresses up for the introduction of the Kia Ex_Ceed concept at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Before joining Kia, Schreyer thought Kia's designs were "neutral."

"I thought I wanted to give Kia a character and a family feel... If you come to a country and you see a Kia, you should recognize it immediately, like you recognize a BMW or Mercedes immediately," he said in an interview with Reuters in March.

At VW, Schreyer was head designer for the namesake brand and oversaw the development of the New Beetle, introduced in 1998.

The 59-year-old studied transportation design at the Royal College of Art in London, joined Audi in 1980 and later became the brand's head of design.

Schreyer has revised Kia's sedan lineup since joining the company. His team introduced a common front shape with the "tiger-nose" grille for Kia models in 2007, now featured by almost all the company's vehicles including the Optima, the revamped Sorento crossover, the Soul crossover and the Forte compact.

Kia, acquired by Hyundai in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, has been expanding sales at a faster pace than Hyundai Motor in markets such as the United States and Europe.

Combined, Kia and Hyundai Motor rank fifth in global car sales.

Inspired by Schreyer's success, Hyundai Motor lured ex-BMW designer Christopher Chapman to head its U.S. design center this year.